Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei warned regional countries against joining a US plan to restrict Iranian aviation, saying any attempt to prevent Iranian aircraft from using regional airports could affect flights from those countries as well.
Speaking to Iranian state television on Wednesday, Rezaei said Iran would respond to US President Donald Trump’s remarks about the war against Iran, describing Trump’s UN General Assembly speech as the address of “a defeated criminal” seeking to defend himself.
Rezaei said Iran has not attacked other countries since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has only defended itself. He hit back at the US and the Israeli regime for waging aggression and said Iran has emerged from the war with greater power.
Rezaei also stated that Iran has inflicted serious damage on US military assets during the conflict, including striking advanced US aircraft and targeting the USS George Washington. He further noted that Iran has seized a US submarine and is conducting reverse engineering on it.
On diplomacy, Rezaei said there has been no change in Iran’s position and that Tehran is pursuing a new diplomatic approach.
“We are not returning to the past,” he said, stressing that the US must take concrete steps to regain the trust of the Iranian people.
“If America does not first fulfill our conditions, neither will the Strait of Hormuz open nor will we negotiate,” Rezaei said.
He said Iran has seven conditions, which have been put in writing and conveyed through Pakistan and Qatar. He added that Tehran’s conditions must be fulfilled before the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
Rezaei said Iran is seeking guarantees as part of its new diplomacy, stressing that the Strait of Hormuz remains an instrument for securing Iran’s rights.
He also rejected accusations that Iran seeks war, saying Yemenis are independent and that Tehran does not want a conflict between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Reacting to the US plan to sanction Iranian aircraft, Rezaei urged regional states not to cooperate with Washington in restricting Iran’s aviation sector.
“We ask all the countries of the region not to join America’s adventure,” he said.
“If they do not allow Iranian aircraft to travel, their own airports will not be able to have flights either,” Rezaei warned.
“You are our friends, but you should not join America’s ranks. You should prevent the war from spreading,” he told the regional and neighboring states.
Source: Tasnim news agency